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NOTES ON OLD PROVIDENCE 



The Old County House 
in Providence 



BY 



Howard W. Preston 



providence 

Preston & Rounds Co. 

1918 



NOTES ON OLD PROVIDENCE 

The Old County House in Providence 

By Howard W. Preston 



At the June session, 1729, the General Assembly of Rhode 
Island divided the colony into three counties, Newport County 
with Newport as the county town, Providence County with 
Providence as the county town, Kings County with South 
Kingstown as the county town. It further provided that "there 
being a necessity for County Court Houses and Goals upon 
the Main .... it is enacted That there be appointed a 
Committee of three persons out of each Town upon the Main 
to find out and appoint a Place in Each County upon the Main 
Suitable and convenient for the Erecting and building a County 
Court house and Goal and that Thomas Fry, Job Greene, Wm. 
Smith, Philip Tilhnghast, Wm. Jencks, Benjamin Green, 
Moses Lippitt, Thomas Spencer, and Pardon Tilhnghast or 
the Major part of them be a Committee for the County of 
Providence .... And that the said Committees meet on 
the Second Wednesday of July next for the Accomphshing 
Said Affair, and if the Weather or Sickness Hinder, to Meet 
the next Fair Day, the Committee for the County of Provi- 
dence at James Olney's in Providence .... It is further 
Voted & Enacted that Wm. Smith and Philip Tilhnghast be a 
Committee for the County of Providence .... for the 
Erecting and building a County Court House & Goal .... 
and Draw upon the General Treasurer for a .Sufficiency of 
Money to accomplish the Same." (Ms. Schedule, June, 
1729.) 

The committee met and reported to the Assembly, which in 
October, 1729, "Voted that the Return of the Committee for 
appointing the Place where the County House & Goal for the 
County of Providence Shall be Accepted of by this Assembly." 
(Ms. Schedule, October, 1729.) 



The location selected was the lot on Meeting Street, in 
Providence, where the old Brick School House now stands, 
then the property of William Page, blacksmith, who on Decem- 
ber 24, 1729, "in Consideration of the Good-will and affection 
I have towards the promoting and Erecting a County House in 
said Towne," deeded to Major William Smith, one of the 
committee appointed "to build said County House : A Certain 
small Lott of Land to sett said house on ... . Containing 
about sixty foot in breadth and is bound on the West side with 
the Lott of Land whereon the Quacors Meeting house stands 
and from thence to extend eastward Sixty foot : and is bounded 
on the northwest and northeast Corners with Stories Stuck in 
the Ground which Stones are Sett fifty two foot South from 
the South Rainge of Richard Waterman's Lott, and from Said 
Stones to extend Southward holding the full breadth of sixty 
foot to the highway that Ledes from the Towne Street Into 
the Neck .... for the building and erecting of a County 
Court house on : and any other housing or other buildings that 
there shall or may be Occation for, to the use benifet and 
behoofe of the Colony: aforesaid from Generation to Genera- 
tion forever. (Prov. Deed Book No. 8, p. 2.'j'j.) 

The town of Providence in town meeting January 27, 
1729-30, voted to pay out of the town treasury a sum additional 
to that allowed by the colony "so that said house might be 
made so Large as to be Servable for the Townes Publick use. 
The which was voated by paper. And Granted by Eighty three 
Voate Cleare.'' The town also voted "that the said house 
should be built fourty foot Long and thirty foot wide and 
eighteene foot Stud betwext Joynts," and further "that there 
shall be a chimny or two built in said house from the Chamber 
flower and upward." (Town Meeting, Record No. 4, p. 2'].') 

The location selected by the committee appointed by the 
Assembly for the combined Colony and Town House was 
evidently not satisfactory to all the townsmen. Accordingly 
the Assembly at its February meeting repealed the act passed 
at the last session, appointing the place for setting the county 
court house in Providence, and voted that it "be left to the, 
town of Providence to be determined in a town meeting to 






be called by the assistants of said town whether the said house 
shall be set upon Capt. James Olneys land or at the place 
appointed by the committee hereto- fore appointed for that 
purpose." (R, I. Colonial Records, Vol. 4, p. 432.) 

A special town meeting was therefore held March 27, 1730, 
as the record says, "to determine by voate where the County 
Court house should be sett wheither at Mr. William Page's 
or att Capt. James Olney's. Coll. Nicholas Power Chosen 
Moderator. Voated by paper and the voate Carryed it that 
the said house should be att Mr. William Page's Lott, being 
the place that was appoynted by the Committee." (Town 
Meeting Record, No. 4.) 

Some objection may have been made to the size of the Page 
lot, as the grantor on April 16, 1730, increased the depth of 
the lot from 60 to 80 feet. (Providence Deed Book 8, pp. 
277-8.) 

The opponents of this southern location made one more 
move, and at the town's quarter meeting April 27, 1730, pre- 
sented the following petition : 

"Wee the subscribers freemen of the Towne of Providence : 
Considering and finding the Land of William Page of Said 
Providence where the Towne voated the County House should 
be sett is an Estate taile and not Docked and that the heirs of 
William Olney to whome said estate is Entailed may Recover 
the Same and the Towne may Loose the money they shall 
Disposs in building there of : and may prove very mischevos to 
the whole County as well as to said Towne in being Deprived 
of theire buildings by said Olney's Heirs : There fore wee 
doe hereby Protest against the said Towne of Providence 
Paying out of there Town Treasury any money towards build- 
ing any addition to the said County house or ordering money 
to be paid toward the same." (Town Meeting Record No. 4, 
pp. 24-5.) That the title was not considered clear is shown 
by the additional deed of Page the next year and by the 
docking of the entail by the customary legal procedure in 1754 
under the statute of 1730. 

The path leading by the lot selected for the County House, 
possibly an Indian trail, had been in use since the early days 



of the settlement, but apparently had not been officially laid 
out. The town now appointed a committee to lay out "County 
House Way." They with the assistance of Daniel Abbott, the 
surveyor, on the fifth of March, 1 730-1, "bound out the high- 
way that Ledes up into the Neck by the County house" from 
the "Towne Street to the highway at the head of the Town 
Lotts." (Town Meeting Records No. 3, p. 194.) 

The committee now proceeded to erect the building, which 
was not ready for occupancy when expected, for the town's 
quarter meeting April 27, 1731, "being Called by Warrant 
to the County Court house but be Reason of that being 
Cluttered with the workmens being In finishing of it-:.. the Town 
having Liberty meet in the Quakers Meeting house that is 
Close by." (Town Meeting Record No. 4, p. 32.) However, 
it was soon finished, for the next town meeting, June 7, 1731, 
was held there. (Town Meeting Record No. 4, p. 35.) 

Major William Smith's accounts for building the County 
Court House and Goal in Providence, amounting to £664, 9s., 
were reported by the auditing committee to the Assembly in 
June, 1 73 1, and the balance ordered to be paid out of the 
General Treasury (R. I. Colonial Records, Vol. 4, p. 452.) 

To secure the colony against loss by defect in title William 
Page declared, September 28, 1731, that when he purchased of 
William Olney, senior, and William Olney, junior, the property 
of which the County House lot was a portion, William Olney, 
junior, gave him "another Deed of another Peice of Land in 
Case there should be any failure in the Deeds that his father 
and himself had Signed to me of the afore Mentioned Lotts 
of Land, then the Second deed should take Effect and be of 
force to convey the same Land therein Contained." Page 
proceeded to covenant in case the Colony or trustees should 
be disturbed in their Quiet and Peaceable possession they 
should have the benefit of this second deed of William Olney, 
junior, and "enter upon so much of the Land therein Men- 
tioned and Contained as will make restitution for the Damage 
they shall sustain thereby." (Providence Deeds Book 10, 
p. 326.) 



5 

The building was known by various names, "the County 
House," "the County Court House," "the Colony House," "the 
Court House." 

In 1739 the Assembly appointed a committee to receive "the 
Bell the best Coat of Arms & all the Leather Chairs that did 
belong to the Old Colony House (in Newport) and that the 
same shall be for the Use of the County House, as Provi- 
dence." (Ms. Schedule, 1739, August session). Possibly this 
bell now hangs in the belfry of the old State House. More 
chairs were ordered in 1742. 

Numerous items concerning the Old County House may be 
gleaned from the records of the town and the colony. Some 
are accounts for attendance on the Assembly, others bills for 
firewood, but repair bills are most numerous and almost with- 
out exception for setting glass. These bills were generally 
rendered to the colony, often by the sheriff, and ordered paid 
by the Assembly, though occasionally the town pays the 
account, as when at a town meeting October 27, 1736, "It is 
Voated that a Glaisour shall emediately be Imployed to mend 
the Glace windows belonging to the County house Chamber 
and have satisfaction out of the Town's Treasury the Gen'll 
Assembly being now sitting. (Town Meeting Records No. 4, 
p. 60.) 

But more extensive repairs were sometimes needed. Thus 
in October, 1736, the Assembly granted the petition of the 
Sheriff of Providence county, which set forth "the great 
Necessity of making Seats in one of the Rooms of the County 
House in Providence for the Conveniency of the House of 
Deputies setting when assembled in General Court, making 
Shutters to the lower and back windows of said County House 
for the preservation of the Glass, getting a convenient Table 
for said Room," and praying that a committee be appointed to 
see it done. (Ms. Schedule, 1736, October session.) 

The building was used by the colony for the sessions of the 
General Assembly, and the courts, and by the town for town 
meetings, but when not needed by either colony or town it 
was utilized for other purposes. Thus the Assembly at the 
August session, 1735, granted the petition of George Taylor 



praying "liberty to keep school in Providence during the 
pleasure of the General Assembly. Provided he keeps the 
glass of said house in constant good repair (after the same is 
once repaired) and erect a handsome sun-dial in front of said 
house both for ornament and use, and build a necessary house 
convenient to prevent to nuisance and to serve the public ; and 
the same to be done as soon as conveniently may be." (R. I. 
Colonial Records, Vol. 4, pp. 511- 12.) It was also used for 
religious services. The General Assembly in February, 1739- 
40. confirmed the "permission granted by Stephen Hopkins, 
Richard Thornton and John Rice Jr Esqrs Judges of the 
Inferiour Court of Common Pleas," "to Capt. J^-mes Olney 
and sundry others of the Baptist denomination in Providence 
for liberty to meet in the county house in Providence on the 
First day of the week to worship God .... upon good and 
sufficient security being given to the sheriff of the county 
aforesaid for repairing and making good all damages that shall 
accrue to the said house by means of the said parties meeting 
in the same." (R. I. Colonial Records, Vol. 4, pp. 569-70.) 

Once at least it was used for military purposes, for in the 
accounts presented by the Sheriff of Providence county to the 
Assembly in October, 1759, is the item: 

"1758 May 16 To Cash paid Compton for cleaning the Court 
House after Soldiers 6-10-0." 

This building was also the earliest home of the Providence 
Library Company, established in 1753. This company, com- 
posed of the leading men of Providence, represented to the 
Assembly in February, 1754, that "being desirious as far as 
in them lieth to promote useful knowledge," they had sent to 
England a sum sufficient to purchase a small library and sought 
the Assembly's permission to erect shelves on the west and 
north sides of the council chamber for the accommodation of 
the library, urging further "yet would there be sufficient room 
for the General Council to set comfortably there and would 
be so far from being any inconvenience, that on the other 
hand, it would be an ornament to the house, and afford an 
agreeable amusement to the members in their leisure hours." 
(R. I. Colonial Records, V. 378-9.) The books, between five 



and six hundred, of which the Hst is still preserved, probably 
arrived in August the same year, and were placed on the 
shelves of the council chamber, with Nicholas Brown as 
librarian, who was to be in attendance Saturdays from two to 
five. When the Assembly was in session the members had 
liberty to use the books. 

After nearly thirty years service the building was not m 
the best of condition, and the Assembly at its December ses- 
sion, 1758, ordered the sheriff to shingle, new clapboard, and 
paint the exterior, put in new sash windows, and repair the 
lower room and the chamber of deputies. But fire speedily 
settled the question of repairs, for immediately after the 
adjournment the house was burned December 24, 1758. 

According to the records of the Library Company, "this 
accident was occasioned thus. The General Assembly Sitting 
in the Court House the preceeding Week, when the weather 
was very cold, Large Fires were kept in the Chamber. The 
Chimneys, not being built from the Ground but founded on 
the Chambers Floors, were Supported by Timber, to which 
the Fire communicated itself through the Hearths, and there 
remained concealed, from Saturday, when the Assembly left 
the House, until the Sunday following, about Ten o'clock at 
Night, when the Inside of the House was discovered to be 
wholly in Flames. The Fire being got to so great a Heighth, 
it was impossible to save the House or any Thing in it. One 
Dwelling House also which stood next to it, was burnt down. 
The Friends Meeting House and another House which Stood 
near it, suffered great Damage by the Fire but were saved by 
the Diligence and great Activity of the People, with the Help 
of one Water Engine, the only one then in the Town." 

The Library Company lost its entire library except about 
seventy volumes that happened at the time to be in the hands 
of the subscribers. No records are mentioned as destroyed 
with the building, as it contained no ofifices. The headquarters 
of the colonial government were still at Newport, the secre- 
tary's office not being removed to Providence until 1775, nor 
do the court records for this period seem incomplete. 



8 

An echo of the fire is found in the Assembly's record of 
February, 1759, when "Dennis Montaigne a waiter on the 
Assembly" is allowed payment for "a Lanthorn he kept for the 
use of the Court which was burnt with the Colony House in 
Providence." (Acts & Resolves, February session, 1759.) 

The Assembly at its May session, 1759, voted that the Court 
House be in the place where the old one was, but later pur- 
chased the lot where the old State House now stands, while the 
former site abandoned by the colony reverted to the heirs of 
William Paige. 



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